Weakness in the Index heavyweights Tata Motors and Reliance Industries have contributed the most to the decline on the Sensex.

At 2:45 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex has lost 50 points to trade at 24,013 and the Nifty50 has dropped 16 points to quote at 7,292.

Among other notable losers include Maruti Suzuki down 3.5%. Maruti Suzuki’s export to Sri Lanka, its biggest foreign destination last year, is losing speed after an increase in import duty by the island nation two months earlier. However, Maruti aims to sell 2 mn cars in 2020.

A further slip in the crude oil prices has hammered the oil exploration majors ONGC and RIL down 2.5% each.

Dr Reddy’s Lab, HUL, Adani Ports and Coal India are some of the biggest losers of this hour down between 2%-3.5%.

However, amid a dismal trading session, Axis Bank continues to hold on to its gains and is 3% after the bank reported a 15% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net profit at Rs 2,175 crore in the October-December quarter (Q3FY16) on the back of higher net interest income and other income.
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(updated at 11:45 am)

After a gap-up opening, markets have come off day’s high and are trading close to flat line as Asian markets have lost steam and slipped in red. Select auto and FMCG shares are exerting selling pressure, however, the rally in banking stocks have arrested the downfall.

At 11:45 am, the S&P BSE Sensex has lost 90 points to trade at 23,970 and the Nifty50 has dropped 26 points to quote at 7,286.

The bounce in crude oil prices has aided the rally in the Asian markets earlier in the day, however, concerns over supply glut still remains.

The top gainers on the Sensex are Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, BHEL, and Hero Motocorp, all up between 1.5-5% each.

The top losers on the Sensex are Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, HUL, ONGC, and Sun Pharma, down between 1-3% each.

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(updated 10:20 am)

After a robust start, markets trimmed its eary gains but continue to trade firm mirroring strength among the Asian equities after the crude oil prices saw stability after touching fresh 2003 lows yesterday.

The rally is broad-based across the board. Banks are contibuting the most to the rise with Axis Bank displaying a stupendous rally post its Q3 results.

At 10:20 am, the S&P BSE Sensex has gained 43 points to trade at 24,105 and the Nifty50 has climbed 16 points to quote at 7,326.

The rupee is trading at 67.85 against the US dollar up 10 paise. The rupee on Wednesday breached the 68-mark after 28 months and closed 23 paise down at 67.95 on fresh demand for the greenback from importers amid a heavy sell-off in the local equities.

Foreign Direct Investment flows into India nearly doubled in 2015 while the US emerged as the top host country for FDI last year, according to the report by UN’s trade agency.

The European markets cracked in the previous session on account of a steep decline in the crude prices. Meanwhile, all eyes would set on European Central Bank’s policy meet on interest rates later today.

Overnight, the Wall Street saw a turbulent day with Dow Jones recovering in the last trading session. However, S&P 500 closed 1.1% lower while Dow Jones ended about 250 points lower. Mirroring a positive finish in the US equites along with stabilizing oil prices, Asian equities saw a firm start with China’s Shanghai Composite, Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up between 0.4%-1%.

All sectoral indices are trading comfortably in green barring the BSE FMCG index. BSE Bankex is leading the rally and is up 2.5%.

Banks have made a robust start in today’s trade with Axis Bank as the top gainer up 2.75 after it reported a 15% rise in net profit to Rs 2,175 crore in the October-December quarter on the back of higher net interest income and other income. Joining the upward are some of the prominent names including SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank up between 0.7%-2%.

Oil exploration majors RIL and ONGC have gained between 0.5%-1.5% as the crude oil prices stabilized and got off from the 2003 lows.

Drug maker Cipla and three other drug makers – Emcure, Hetero and Natco – will sell generic version of Bristol-Myer Squibb’s anti-hepatitis drug, Daclatasvir. Cipla is trading higher by 1%.

Commodity-based stocks are also witnessing an uptick with Hindalco, Tata Steel, Hindalco up between 1-2%.

Weakness in the Indian rupee has helped the export oriented IT stocks. TCS, Wipro and Infosys have surged up to 0.5%.

The auto stocks are also gaining across the board with M&M up 0.2% after the leading sports utility vehicles (SUV) maker decides to soon start exporting its latest compact offering KUV100 to countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa. Among individual names, Hero Motocorp, Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto have gained 0.5% each.

On the flip side, FMCG stocks are facing sessling pressure with ITC and HUL down 1% each.